My Favorite Book by Crystal

My Favorite Book by Crystal - October 2023 Scholarship Essay

My teacher read the entirety of Cinder by Marissa Meyers to us in 5th grade. It’s a story about fairy tales, sci-fi, dystopias, and fantasy. The book had an incredible impact on me even from such a young age and became my favorite alongside the other books in the series because it fueled my artistic vision and was arguably one of the first young adult novels I had ever consumed.

Cinder is one book of six in The Lunar Chronicles series. It’s a reinterpretation of popular fairy tale stories such as Cinderella where the main character is a cyborg in a dystopian world plagued with disease. It’s incredibly creative and engaged me with its interesting plot and rather grim vision.

I greatly enjoyed the book and continued to read the others in the series, but the reason I latched onto it so heavily was because it gave me great inspiration. I’m an artist and I enjoy creating characters, designing characters, world-building, and everything more than comes with being interested in making settings. The book was incredibly refreshing in comparison to the small books you could read in the library or Harry Potter. I adored fairy tales in concept, but at the time wanted a little more than just another princess story, so Cinder had played to my interests perfectly. It inspired me to think more outside the box on popular stories and think about how I would remake them to be different, unique, and refreshing.

Additionally, it was one of the first introductions to young adult novels I read. A taste of more adult and heavy themes. That challenged my views and opened my mind to complex storytelling and fiction contained in a more “real” setting. It was enthralling, hooking me in to read the rest of the series and continuing to read other books. Which at the time, wasn’t very easy since I was picky with my books.

Cinder remains one of my favorite stories that I have ever read. Being the most major point in my life that turned me into a heavy bookworm and open-minded creative. I still think about it to this day and continue making characters and settings that are more than just simple fairy tales. If my teacher had never read me that book, I doubt I’d be as fascinated with rewrites as I am today.